Without a doubt its gotta b carlton barret's drumming on the max romeo stuff at black ark. the swing on the hi hat is a joke plus what he does with the bass drum. On the versions you can seriously hear it come through..

I always get excited by the drumming on Barry Brown's Give Thanks And Praise, which can be found on his Step It Up Youthman LP: typical dynamic off-beat drumming that could only be performed by a Jamaican topdrummer!

or style scott, who's drumming ive had the opportunity to witness up close a number of times. always something going on in his playing, esp riding the cymbals. Horsie's got it going on too for sure, and still does...he has stayed remarkably consistent throughout the years

On topic (tunes with the best drumming, not great drummers), I have always loved the drumming on the super lively stepper Africa We Want To Go by Imru Asher & Iration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDiAqSW-3sw. I suppose this is a UK production, no idea who the drummer is (anyone knows?) but it's not too often in reggae you get to hear a drum (and percussion) solo on a studio recording... check the clip @7:45!

Loads of great reggae drummers out there, but I gotta put in my vote for Style Scott on the Bingy Bunny tune 'Me And Jane'. This has a particularly insane drum track, with Style pounding the kick drum harder than usual.

Although Sly is also credited on this Toyan album, I'm thinking this is more likely to be Santa Davis, who was also killing the drums in the early 80s. Also love his earlier 'flying cymbal' tracks for Bunny Lee.

The actual tuning of the drum kit and the way is recorded (and mixed) is as important as the skill of the drummer.Some drumming mentioned here is actually quite average, is the recording and mixing that sounds amazing.

Most foundation drummers still active are actually probably 'better' (more acomplished) nowadays than they were in the 60-70-80s but their modern recordings don't sound the same ......the sound has changed

Lloyd Knibb had to "simplify" his drumming quite a bit in his later years but he was still very efficient. As for the drum programmers, the best of them are more often than not artists who knew how to use a real drumkit as well,Sly, the guy from Firehouse Crew and Clevie are most probably on top of the list, much much less "stiff" rhythms than what the average programmer tends to do. There are also a whole lot of amazing drummers in Japan nowadays, be they involved in old school sounds or heavy piledriving steppers (yes, the ones will REAL drums !). I don't know their names, though, but one plays in a band named Soul Dimension. Korey Horn, Eddie Ocampo,Ara Babajian and Scott Abels are also great drummers from the USA who have recorded many modern undeground classics with a heavy beat with their respective groups. The latter now drums behind Jimmy Cliff. They really can play any sort of JA sounds with a touch of their own, without ever losing the groove. Some drummers in the new wave of JA roots reggae bands are also very solid. I know the title of the post is about tunes but i'm too lazy to list them. If you feel like wandering off the beaten track, go check them, some sounds may not appeal to everyone, as they are not "purely" what is considered as roots reggae these days. One of Justin Hinds's sons is also a fine (albeit underecorded) drummer when it comesto rocksteady and original roots reggae.